Vitamin D Advice

All pregnant and breastfeeding women, especially teenagers and young women

Infants and young children under 5yrs of age.

Older people aged 65yrs and over.

People who have low or no exposure to the sun, for example those who cover their skin for cultural reasons, who are housebound or confined to indoors for long periods.

People who have darker skin, for example people of African, African-Caribbean and South Asian origin, because their bodies are not able to make as much vitamin D.

All UK Health Departments recommend:

ALL pregnant and breastfeeding women should take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D, to ensure the mother’s requirements for vitamin D are met and to build adequate fetal stores for early infancy.

ALL infants and young children aged 6 months to 5yrs should take a daily supplement containing vitamin D in the form of vitamin drops, to help them meet the requirement set for this age group of 7 – 8.5 micrograms of vitamin D per day. However, those infants who are fed infant formula will not need vitamin drops unless they are receiving less than 500ml of infant formula a day, as these products are fortified with vitamin D. Breastfed infants may need to receive drops containing vitamin D from 1 month of age if their mother has not taken vitamin D supplements throughout pregnancy.

People aged 65yrs and over and people not exposed to much sun should also take a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D.

Women and children from families who are eligible for the Government’s Healthy Start scheme can get free vitamin supplements which contain vitamin D in the form of tablets for women and drops for children.